Volkswagen Eos

The Volkswagen Eos is a four-seat retractable hardtop coupe convertible, introduced in 2006 as the successor to the Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet. The Eos is Volkswagen's first production coupe since the last Corrado in 1995.

The name Eos is derived from Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn.^[2]

Roof design

The Eos incorporates into its five-piece folding roof an integrated and independently sliding glass sunroof — making the Eos the only retractable hardtop of this kind. The roof folds automatically into the trunk in 25 seconds, thereby reducing trunk space from 10.5 to 6.6 cubic feet (300 to 190 L)

The roof was designed and is built by OASys, a subsidiary of Webasto Germany.

Inception, production and history

Prior to production, the Eos was shown as the Concept C concept car at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show — designed by a team headed by Peter Schreyer, Head of Volkswagen Design in Wolfsburg.^[3] Other sources attribute the design of the Eos specifically to Slovenian Robert Lešnik.^[1]

The production Eos, produced at the AutoEuropa plant in Portugal, was presented in September 2005 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, with the North American introduction at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January, 2006.

Unlike the Cabrio, which was a convertible version of the Golf hatchback, the Eos is a standalone model with all-new body panels, although it shares the platform and components from the Passat (Mark 6 (B6 now PQ46 platform) (2005–present)). The wheelbase matches the Golf Mk5 and Jetta.

Eos White Night (2009-present)

The White Night edition is a special edition with custom wheels, custom black interior and a black and white colour scheme package. It includes Candy White-coloured body, Deep Black Pearlescent-coloured roof, cherry-red LED tail lights, 18-inch Budapest wheels. Other features include black mirror covers, radiator grille and trim strips, black nappa leather seats, door and side trim and black steering wheel with light-coloured seams, trim strips and radio trim in Candy White, Sill panel strips with White Night letters. Other features include Climatronic climate control system, sports chassis lowered 15 mm (0.6 in) and heated front seats.

The car had base MSRP of €33,140. This option is available with all non-V6 models.^[4]

Facelift

A facelifted Volkswagen Eos appeared in late 2010, and will go on sale as a 2012 model outside Europe.

The Volkswagen concern has no plans to build a top performance version of the Eos (called Eos R), as they did not want its cabriolet to be powered by a high-revving engine, and as the recent top-performing versions have V6 engines which while powerful are considered too heavy for a sporty offshoot. However, there are rumors that there is an in-house Eos R in the works, and it is speculated that it's likely to get tuned 3.6 litre VR6 engine and 4motion all-wheel drive system instead of front-wheel drive.

Drivetrain

All vehicles are front-wheel drive only.

1.4 TSI, 1.6 FSI, 2.0 FSI are only sold in Europe. 2.0 TDI I4 is sold in Europe and Australia.

Production

The Eos is produced in Volkswagen's AutoEuropa factory in Palmela, Portugal. Although production started in late 2005, first deliveries were delayed due to a wind noise problem.

International markets

The Eos was released in Europe in the first quarter of 2006, and in North America in the third quarter of 2006. Right-hand drive market Japan began sales in October 2006 followed by New Zealand and Australia in January 2007. It was released in South Africa in the second quarter of 2007.

References

External links

• Eos at Volkswagen International
• A link to an article of the Eos' inspiration, the Concept C.